This Life, I Will Be the Protagonist

At the very least, this meant that her passive skill [Bedtime Tale] would be useless in this game mode—but the mechanics were perfect for skills like [Family Bucket], [Target Locked], and her ace, [I'm Getting Serious].

[Family Bucket] could replicate and unleash hundreds of skills in one go, which perfectly aligned with the rule that "each skill counts as one hit." If the rule had been "AOEs and guided skills only count as one hit total," then [Family Bucket] would've been hard-nerfed.

With it, she could target a hundred crewmates at once. A hundred hits with a 20% chance each—no matter how bad her luck was, she'd walk away with a decent chunk of Blocks.

This skill was best used when she was selected as a treasure chest. But chests got focused fast, and since being hit three times guaranteed Block loss—even if [Family Bucket] lasted five minutes—she'd better use it once and bail.

[Target Locked], on the other hand, was perfect for attacking chests. After selecting a target, her next 10 skills would automatically and accurately hit. She could close her eyes and still score three Blocks.

The only downside? [Family Bucket] had an 18-minute cooldown, and [Target Locked] had 5. This game lasted just 10 minutes.

Even with [Clock Reversal], resetting cooldowns wasn't worth it. [Family Bucket] could only be used when she was a chest, and there was no guarantee she'd be chosen as one early—or at all.

As for [Target Locked]? She had [I'm Getting Serious]—no need to waste an hour-long reset just for one extra cast.

Then there was this gem: "Leaving the pirate ship for more than 3 seconds is forbidden." It didn't outright ban flying, but it was just as limiting. Sure, anyone with even 100 Agility or Strength could leap ten-plus meters, but flight gave you maneuverability—dodging and weaving midair—while jumping offered no leverage.

"Marked as treasure chest." When she'd been watching from outside, she hadn't noticed any players visibly marked. Just a bunch of Block players leaping and scrambling, occasionally dogpiling a few unlucky targets.

But there had to be some visible cue—at least for participants—otherwise how could players find chests so quickly? Spectators just couldn't see the full gameplay.

Also—how were the stolen Blocks picked up? Auto-collect? Manual grab?

From the outside, all she'd seen were Block players running around, some gaining extra Blocks as they moved. Were they picking them up?

If pickups required matching connectors, fine—but freeform attachment took three seconds…

In just five seconds, Rita had already run through a full mental checklist.

[Game Countdown: 1]

Her pirate ship reached its peak swing. The other ship was cresting the opposite side. The second that "1" disappeared, both ships began their fast arc back toward each other.

Then came the jingle of coins—like jackpot winnings—and two golden beams shot up from the deck: one at the stern… and one right beside her.

Nivalis.

Out of 157 players and only 3 treasure chests, the odds that two were on the same ship were slim. Nivalis had just drawn a terrible hand.

Rita's mind raced—should she use [Target Locked] to quickly score some of Nivalis's Blocks, reduce the loss?

No. Not worth it.

In a flash, she shouted, "Shrink down—now!" and threw herself in front of Nivalis.

Attacks rained down on Rita, but shipmate-on-shipmate damage was nullified.

Nivalis immediately burned an Arcane skill—[I'm Still Just a Baby]—and shrank to the size of a tiny seahorse.

Rita snatched her up and pinned her to her own foot's Block base, pressing her to the ground. Then she ripped a few Blocks off herself and stacked them around Nivalis like a makeshift bunker.

In an instant, the golden beam enveloped Rita instead, blending seamlessly into her. From the outside, it looked like she was the chest.

It happened so fast—less than three seconds.

Even though most players on this ship had seen the original beam, the other ship's crew hadn't. And that was what mattered.

The ships crossed paths. Rita took off immediately, flying toward the other ship.

That one had a chest too—a player darting around, blinking, phasing, vanishing—using three skills in under five seconds. But even they had limits.

By the time Rita landed, that player had already been hit multiple times.

Her arrival split the enemy's focus—drawing away at least half the aggression.

She scanned quickly—no visible Block drops yet.

No matter. She didn't mark anyone yet. Instead, she used [Repay] to borrow a skill from someone nearby.

Then she pointed at the chest and cast [Target Locked], marking them.

A barrage of attacks slammed into her, but she didn't dodge.

"She's not a chest!"

"The treasure's under her armpit!"

"BS-Rita—that's BS-Rita! Get her!"

"Wow, she really is as shady, devious, and lowdown as they say."

Rita: Who's out there dragging my name through the mud?

The ship was loud—too loud to tell who said what—and she didn't catch most of it anyway.

She loosed ten magic arrows. Each curved differently, each aimed at the chest.

The ship swung high, inertia pressing her into the seat. She braced, grabbed the rail, and launched herself toward the chest.

A green, glowing Block hovered in midair where the target had just passed.

Above it hovered the number "5."

She watched as one player ran right through it. Only she went straight for it.

Drops clearly had timers—but also drop protection.

She reached the Block and avoided grabbing it with her hand—too risky with its red color. Instead, she stepped on it. It didn't phase through. The moment her foot touched it, it solidified beneath her.

But that triggered another problem—[Block Color Count Must Not Be Odd].

Her torso was red, legs and [Soul Catcher] were white, eyes, shoes, [Plush Collar], and ring weapon were black, and her head Block was an off-white ivory.

The [Lonely Antenna Baby], fused from a purple crystal and a silver antenna, was purple and silver.

That made six colors total.

Now with green… well, that ruined everything.